Engine oil rectifier



y 1961 B. F. COURT 2,984,226

ENGINE OIL RECTIFIER Filed May 16, 1960 Jim-2.

wry/0i. iMZM/AVFCOVZZ Armin 5% United States Patent F ENGINE OIL RECTIFIER Benjamin F. Court, 539 Dayman St., Long Beach, Calif.

Filed May 16, 1960, Ser. No. 29,406

4 Claims. (Cl. 123-4151) This invention relates to an engine oil rectifier whereby the lighter vaporized constituents in the crank case are condensed and returned to the crank case to be recirculated.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel engine oil rectifier which will efiectively condense the vaporized constituents in the engine crank case oil, and will prevent such vaporized constituents from being forced into the atmosphere through the breather pipe of the engine.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel engine rectifier which is provided with means to entrap the oil vapors which are normally emitted from the engine crank case breather pipe, and to condense these vapors so that they may be returned to the crank case of the engine in liquid form, thus preventing these vapors from being forced into the atmosphere.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a side elevation of my rectifier in position on an engine.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the heat transfer unit with parts broken away to show interior construction.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the vapor collector which is mounted on the engine breather pipe with parts broken away to show interior construction.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates an internal combustion engine, which includes a crank case 2 in which the engine oil is normally retained. A radiator 3, of usual and well known construction, contains a quantity of water which is circulated through the engine for cooling purposes. A cooling fan 4 is mounted rearwardly of the radiator 3 and is driven by the engine through the usual belt 5, all of which is usual and well known in the art. A breather pipe 6 extends from the crank case 2 and this breather pipe normally permits any oil vapors in the crank case 2 to escape into the atmosphere. To prevent the constant escape of oil vapors into the atmosphere I provide the following structure: A sleeve 7 is fixedly mounted on the breather pipe 6 by such means as the bolting flange 8, or a similar structure. A door 9 is hingedly attached to the upper end of the sleeve 7 so that oil may be poured therethrough to refill the crank case 2 from time to time as necessary. A wire screen 10 extends transversely of the sleeve 7 and this screen acts as a coarse filter to collect foreign particles, and also to act as a collector for vapors tending to permit condensation of these vapors, which condensate would drip back into the crank case. A cup 11 is mounted above the screen 10 and the bottom of this cup is perforated, as shown at 12, so that oil can run through the cup when filling the crank case. An outlet pipe 13 extends from the upper edge of the sleeve 7 to a heat exchanger 14, the details of which will be further described. Any condensate from the outlet pipe 13 would fall back into the cup 11 to be picked up and recirculated by the additional vapors passing out of the breather pipe 6, and eventually this condensate would be moved into the heat exchanger 14. I

The outlet pipe 13 is attached to the upper end of a coil 15, which coil is positioned entirely within the heat exchanger 14. The lower end of the coil 15 is attached to an outlet pipe 16 which extends into the crank case 2 and returns any liquids which are condensed in the coil 15 back into the crank case. A water pipe 17 extends from the radiator 3 into the top of the heat exchanger 14. A second water pipe 18 extends from the bottom of the heat exchanger 14 and thence into the radiator 3. Thus water circulation is accomplished through the heat exchanger 14 and back into the radiator 3 where the water is cooled by the fan 4, as well as by the movement of the vehicle. The cool water circulates around the coil 15, causing any vapors within that coil to be condensed, and these vapors are returned to the crank case through the drainpipe 16. I thus provide a closed circuit for the vapors emitted from the crank case of an engine, causing these vapors to be recondensed into a liquid form and return as a liquid to the crank case. The cap 9 on the sleeve 7 is held tightly in a closed position so that there is no vapor leak at this point. The bottom of the cap 9 may also be provided with small tips or drip points 19, which will tend to condense oil vapors and permit the liquid to drop back into the cup 11 where they would again be picked up by other vapors and carried out through the pipe 13.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An engine including a crank case, a crank case breather pipe and a radiator, of an oil collector comprising a sleeve attachment, means securing said sleeve attachment to the breather pipe; an oil filler cap mounted on said sleeve, a heat exchanger, a cooling coil in the heat exchanger, water circulating conduits extending from the radiator to the heat exchanger, a pipe extending from said sleeve attachment to one end of said coil, and an outlet pipe extending from another end of said coil and thence to said crank case.

2. An engine including a crank case, a crank case breather pipe and a radiator, of an oil collector comprising a sleeve attachment, means securing said sleeve attachment to the breather pipe; an oil filler cap mounted on said sleeve, a screen in said sleeve extending transversely thereof below the filler cap, and a cup fixedly mounted in said sleeve above the screen, a heat exchanger, a cooling coil in the heat exchanger, water circulating conduits extending from the radiator to the heat exchanger, a pipe extending from said sleeve attachment to one end of said coil, and an outlet pipe extending from another end of said coil and thence to said crank case.

3. An engine including a crank case, a crank case breather pipe, a radiator and a cooling fan adjacent the radiator, of an oil collector comprising a sleeve attachment, means securing said sleeve attachment to the breather pipe, an oil filler cap mounted on said sleeve, a heat exchanger, said heat exchanger being positioned adjacent the cooling fan to receive cooling air therefrom, a cooling coil in the heat exchanger, water circulating conduits extending from the radiator to the heat exchanger, a pipe extending from said sleeve attachment to one end of said coil, and an outlet pipe extending from another end of said coil and thence into said crank case.

4. An engine including a crank case, a crank case breather pipe, a radiator and a cooling fan adjacent the radiator, of an oil collector comprising a sleeve attachment, means securing said sleeve attachment to the breather pipe, an oil filler cap mounted on said sleeve,

{screen in said sleeve extending transversely thereof below the filler cap, and a cup fixedly mounted in said sleeve above the screen, a heat exchanger, said heat exchanger being positioned adjacent the cooling fan to receive cooling air therefrom, a cooling coil in the heat exchanger, water circulating conduits extending from the radiator to the heat exchanger, a pipe extending from said sleeve attachment to one end of said coil, and an outlet pipe extending from another end of said coil and thence into said crank case.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Barker Jan. 28, 1936 Miller Dec. 10, 1940 Lowther Aug. 19, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Ian. 3, 1927 Germany Oct. 10, 1929 Germany Dec. 6, 1940 

